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Glowing UFO Kit

Overlords of the UFO DVD

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Description

It seemed like the 1970s was a prime decade for those low-budget documentaries. One of them was Mysteries From Beyond Earth (1976) hosted by Lawrence Dobkin. Another was Overlords of the UFO, also from 1976, hosted by W. Gordon Allen. This film was made in Seattle, so it should not come as any surprise that some of the subjects being covered should be around the Seattle area (like Vashon Island, Renton, or Uri Gellar at a Seattle radio station called KVI). Of course they cover the rest of the country and world as well. Apparently Overlords of the UFO was originally aired in drive-ins, you can be pretty certain you wouldn't be finding a whole lot of teenagers bringing their dates to see this film when it came out.

Very grainy, in that wonderful '70s sense. Looks like it was filmed off someone's home movie camera (that is, before camcorders ever existed) and viewed on a movie projector like what schools used to use. That means you'll find lots of nice streaking vertical lines, as well as the usual video defect you come to expect from such film (like the occasional black splotches). The documentary also included lots of stock footage from NASA, the United States military, and alleged filming of a UFO off someone's home movie camera. The music is often orchestral, of what seems to be public domain stock, with also bizarre electronic effects played on an ARP 2600 synthesizer. There are also bizarre psychedelic light shows too, particularly on the Space Voyage from Ummo scene. Perhaps the most ridiculous part of the Overlords of the UFO was the filming of a UFO flying erratically. But what was really silly was it was so wobbly that you can tell it was dangling on a string.

It was so obvious, but they included it anyway and they were convinced it was real. It's obvious that the makers of this film needed to do a little more research on the material being presented before they started making the film. But because of how poorly organized they were in making the film got me laughing. I just love this film, and I give it a four star rating anyway. It's totally 1970s, and if you really missed the 1970s, this film will take you back. It's far from perfect, to say the least, but if you enjoy a low-budget UFO documentary with all its flaws, you're sure to enjoy this.